Brolga
Vol 4 Number 3 September 2015
A Spotted Pardalote in colourful
contrast to the brown background
Photo by Allan Briggs
BirdLife Capricornia
The release of the important State of Australia’s
Birds (SOAB) was a sobering reminder that many
of our bird species are in serious decline on the
east coast. These include Peaceful Dove,
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, Brown Honeyeater,
Double-barred Finch and Spangled Drongo with
the most serious decline in the Rainbow Beeater.
Interestingly Rainforest Dependent species such
as the Paradise Riflebird are increasing.
Obviously a complex set of influences are causing
these trends but one consistent factor is the loss
of habitat.
This year SOAB has used a quantitative set of
indicators from the data collected across the
nation over the last 15 years as the basis for this
reporting. An underpinning factor is the amazing
efforts by our citizen scientists who go out on a
weekly basis and collect the data. This means
that the survey work we do is quite important and
that your contribution is worthwhile. The trends
are quite alarming and you can download the
report at http://birdlife.org.au/state-of-birds/
Contents
Field trip: North Keppel Island
2
Probus Club and U3A talks
3
Lost Egret
3
What is that bird?
3
Trip report: Gary & Leonie’s Excellent Outback
Adventure
4
Trip report: WA Part 1
7
Trip report: WA Part 2
9
Aussie Backyard Bird Count
10
Trip report - Isle of Mull Birdwatching
11
Trip report: Wild West Wandering
12
Field trip: Kroombit Tops
16
Quadcopter purchase
18
Trip report: Welford and Bowra
19
Around the ridges
21
Outstanding Photographs
22
Artistic interpretation
25
Calendar of Events for 2015
29
Membership info
30
Your Committee
30
BirdLife Capricornia
Field trip: North
Keppel Island
Seventeen members attended the weekend
field trip to North Keppel Island on 18th and 19th
July. The weather was just perfect with bright
sunny days and temps in the low 20’s which
made the walks very pleasant.
Ten sites across the island were surveyed in a
variety of different habitats ranging from
sweeping sandy beaches, mangrove swamps,
woodland and rocky cliffs through to grassy
hills and shady banksia thickets. 50 species
were seen and recorded with four extra
species being added to the overall list for the
island making a total of 101 species. Of note
were Gannet and brown boobies diving
offshore, nesting Osprey, Sooty Oystercatcher
chicks, juvenile Beach-stone Curlew, a group
of four overwintering Grey-tailed Tattler and
around 20 Top-knot Pigeons flying over.
All in all a terrific weekend with a good time
had by all. The data from the trip will be
forwarded to NKIEEC for inclusion in their
curriculum so that students attending the
centre will know what birds can be seen in the
various habitats.
Centre staff advised that a large group of
around 12 Magpie Lark’s had arrived on the
island only two weeks back and many of them
were seen around the environment centre.
Dave and Steve Mitchell saw some of them at
Maizie Bay performing some strange
behaviour, They observed them on the beach
scratching in a circular motion creating
approximately 15 cm circles to a depth of about
3 cm. Presumably a feeding technique as
when imitated a light coloured “sand flea” type
insect and another smaller “black fly”flew out of
the hole.
On Saturday evening we had Sundowners
with a group of four resident Bush-stone
Curlews before enjoying a delicious hot meal
prepared by centre staff. Edna Barker then
challenged the birdo’s with a quiz which was
won for the second year running by Debra
Corbet.
Magpie Larks feeding on the beach
(Steve Mitchell)
The BirdLife team on North Keppel Island
(Graham)
Admiring the view at Rocky Bay (Allan Briggs)
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BirdLife Capricornia
Probus Club and U3A
talks
Allan Briggs gave talks to both the Yeppoon
Ladies Probus Club and the University of the
Third Age in Yeppoon.
mid morning, it was down on the south side of
the traffic island, hunting. So, it can fly. Fran
would like to know if anyone has any ideas why
the bird has decided to hang about the traffic
island in the middle of a busy highway instead
of hunting in a water habitat like other egrets
seem to do.
Both talks were well attended with over 50 at
the Probus Club. The topic was the
identification of local birds and also an
overview of the impact of Cyclone Marcia on
local bird populations.
These talks provide useful information to
community members about local birds as well
as raising the profile of BirdLife Capricornia.
Great Egert (Fran McFadzen)
What is that bird?
For those who like a challenge here is a local
bird for you to identify. As well as identifying
the bird you have to describe the distinctive
behaviour it has when alighting on a branch
that is more pronounced than its cousin.
Presentation to the Probus Club at the Yeppoon
Bowls Club.
Lost Egret
The person with the first correct answer
received by email will be accorded the title,
“Bird Brain”.
Fran McFadzen has noticed a Great Egret
hunting on the traffic island in the middle of the
Bruce Highway outside the Red Hill Centre at
Rockhampton. She saw it near there each of
the occasional times she went up to Rocky
over several weeks. She thought sadly, it
might be unable to fly and trapped on the
Traffic Island, surviving on the insects it
captured there.
But on another occasion she noticed it was
perched up on the top of the street light on the
North side of the road and when she returned
September 2015
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BirdLife Capricornia
Trip report: Gary &
Leonie’s Excellent
Outback Adventure
Gary & Leonie Knight report on their trip to
Western Queensland
After a drive from Rockhampton to the
Sunshine Coast to drop our pampered pooch,
“Koko” off, we headed to Brisbane to pick up
our hired camper trailer for a trip along the
Matilda Highway to Bladensburg National Park.
First night was a stopover at Nanango to
rearrange everything from the Landy into the
trailer and stock up on food and water for the
trip.
Next day we made the long haul from Nanango
to Morven a 7 ½ hour drive arriving at around
4pm we found the Rec ground to setup camp.
Not a bad spot if you didn’t mind sharing with
about 50 other grey nomads on their western
pilgrimage. It was our first time setting the
foldout tent up... and no worries mastered it
with ease. As the name suggests it is a
recreation centre and someone had booked
their birthday bash that night as well... disco till
1:30am an added bonus if you were into it.
Next morning the silence was bliss. There was
a large water hole running along the outer
edge of the camp so I grabbed my camera
gear and made my way along the eastern
bank. Being so dry out that way, there were
numerous birds coming down for their morning
drink. Copious Yellow-Throated Miners were
scavenging through the leaf litter along the
banks as well as a Yellow-Billed Spoonbill
working the shallows. Further around I
managed to get a few shots of White-winged
Chough having their family squabbles. The
highlight was a pair of Major Mitchell
Cockatoos flew over head. These were a lifer
for me even though I didn’t get a lens on them.
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September 2015
Whilst on my morning walk I did a quick survey
of the area as shown below.
Morven Recreation Reserve Survey
Apostlebird
Grey-crowned Babbler
White-winged Chough
Major Mitchell’s Cockatoo
Little Pied Cormorant
Black-fronted Dotterel
Peaceful Dove
Galah
Blue-faced Honeyeater
White-plumed Honeyeater
Masked Lapwing
Australian Magpie
Magpie Lark
Noisy Miner
Yellow-throated Miner
Striated Pardalote
Red-winged Parrot
Crested Pigeon
Yellow-Billed Spoonbill
As this was just a stopover, we did a
midmorning pack up and were back on the
road to Lara Station Wetland.
Yellow-billed Spoonbill (Gary Knight)
We left Morven and headed up the Matilda
Highway through Augathella, Tambo, and
Blackall and turned into Lara Station 28km
south of Barcaldine. The road into the station
was dry dusted and very corrugated from the
traffic into the wetland. What a surprise when
we arrived and found a beautiful oasis in the
arid environment. The wetland was created by
a bore drain that was been flowing into the
wetland area for over 100 years. We were
informed that were nearly ninety species of bird
identified at the site and I added a further two
while I was there. On arrival we booked into
the camp office and made our way round the
wetland and found a quiet spot at the farther
BirdLife Capricornia
end where the water was shallow and there
seemed to be an abundance of birdlife. While
setting up camp we had Black-winged stilts
feeding only meters away and Brown Treecreepers on the trees right next to us. It was
pretty exciting to see so many birds, so close
and not really caring that we were there. As
the sun set, a lone Boobook started calling to
the east of the camp and was eventually joined
by a second returning his calls. Next morning I
set up the big lens on a tripod close to the
water’s edge, chair with side table and cereal
in the bowl and waited for the morning to
unfold. How else would you want to have
breaky? Besides the numerous species that I
had seen before, I was surprised to get another
lifer when about 60 White-browed
Woodswallows decided our end of the wetland
was a great spot to drop in for a drink. What a
spectacular bird with that beaut rust coloured
chest and amazing white brow. We spent two
days here before hitting the highway again for
our next camp at Bladensburg National Park.
We wished we had more time to stay here as it
was such a nice spot to camp and had great
facilities such as flushing toilets, and hot
showers.
Next it was back on the road to Bladensburg.
There were lots of dry open spaces along the
way, where the drought has taken its toll on
both the vegetation and wildlife. In one area
just west of Longreach we started counting
Kangaroo carcasses and we were averaging
between 20 and 30 between each set of guide
posts on each side of the road. This wasn’t the
whole way, but I would say the toll was in the
thousands.
Lara Station Wetland Survey
Apostlebird
Red-tailed BlackCockatoo
Southern Boobook
Pied Butcherbird
Grey Butcherbird
Eurasian Coot
Torresian Crow
Black-faced Cuckooshrike
Black-fronted Dotterel
Red-kneed Dotterel
Australian Wood Duck
Pacific Black Duck
Pink-eared Duck
Double-barred Finch
Plum-headed Finch
Zebra Finch
Little Friarbird
Noisy Friarbird
Galah
White-faced Heron
White-necked Heron
White-Plumed
Honeyeater
Laughing Kookaburra
Masked Lapwing
Rainbow Lorikeet
Australian Magpie
Magpie-Lark
Tree Martin
Yellow-Throated Miner
Dusky Moorhen
Olive-backed Oriole
Red-winged Parrot
Crested Pigeon
Pale-headed Rosella
Yellow-Billed Spoonbill
Black-winged Stilt
Black Swan
Grey Teal
Brown Tree Creeper
Willie Wagtail
White-breasted
Woodswallow
White-browed Woodswallow
Black Kite (Nesting)
Red-kneed Dotterel (Gary Knight)
We called into a rest area 45km east of Winton
that I found on a previous trip. This spot not
only has great facilities but has an above
ground earth dam that is trickle feed by an
artesian bore. In such a dry area water is like a
Mecca for birds and wildlife in general. I am
never disappointed to see flocks of
Budgerigars drop in for a drink. Species seen
on this trip were, Budgerigar, White-winged
Triller, Diamond Dove, Spotted Bowerbird,
Variegated Fairy-Wren, Grey Fantail, Black,
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Kite, Whistling Kite, White-plumed honeyeater,
Tree Martin. I am sure if I had planed an
overnighter at this spot the species list would
be much bigger.
From here we moved on to our camp site at
Bladensburg National Park. The road in was
very corrugated making a slow trip, which I
didn’t mind as it gave us more time to take in
the country side. We arrived at the Bower Shed
Camp ground on the banks of Surprise creek
at about 4pm and found a beaut site with easy
access to the creek. The drought has taken its
toll on the area with a lot of the vegetation
looking dead, even the Spinifex was starting to
look a bit worse for wear in places. During the
drive in we were disappointed to note that no
Wedge-tailed Eagles were seen. When I last
visited the area in November 2012, I saw at
least a dozen birds at the park. After setting up
camp, I did a quick walk around and saw very
few birds at all and started wondering if the big
dry had made a very significant impact on the
parks birdlife.
further up we found large numbers of Spotted
Bowerbirds feeding on the berries of what I am
thinking is a species of Lolly Bush. Back at
camp Leonie spotted a pair of Mallee Ringneck
Parrots that were more than happy to pose for
a few shots. After lunch we made the short
drive to Skull Hole, rumoured to be named
after the massacre of a local aboriginal tribe,
accused of killing a local teamster in the 19th
century, at the hands of Aboriginal Troopers.
The water hole itself looked as though it may
have been deepened by animals searching out
the precious water lying deep under the sand
and gravel. From the banks of the waterhole
we observed Grey-headed Honeyeaters, Zebra
Finch, Double-barred Finch, and a Spotted
Bowerbird come down for a drink and on the
rocky cliff tops a pair of Spinifex Pigeons made
a quick getaway. In all we ended up with 28
species at the park, a noticeable absence was
raptors of any sort.
Bladensburg Survey
Apostlebird
Spotted Bowerbird
Common Bronzewing
Budgerigar
Pied Butcherbird
Cockatiel
Black-fronted Dotterel
Double-barred Finch
Zebra Finch
Galah
White-faced Heron
White-Necked Heron
Grey-Headed Honeyeater
Spiny-cheeked
Honeyeater
Australian Ringneck (Gary Knight)
Next morning, a walk along the creek,
identified a number of water holes that showed
a lot of promise. Once the light was a little
better, we gathered up the camera gear to
investigate these sites a little more. Amazingly,
a White-necked Heron was managing to catch
small fish in an ever diminishing water hole and
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September 2015
White-plumed Honeyeater
Australian Magpie
Magpie Lark
Yellow-throated honeyeater
Red-Winged Parrot
Australian Pelican
Crested Pigeon
Spinifex Pigeon
Australian Raven
Australian Ringneck
(Mallee)
Grey Shrike-Thrush
Willie Wagtail
Black-faced Woodswallow
White-browed
Woodswallow
The two days at Bladensburg soon came to an
end and due to that fact that the Airconditioning in the Landy had packed it in, we
made the decision to make the long haul back
to Rocky in one go. The 11 hour trip went
without a hitch. We love the outback and are
looking forward to returning, hopefully after
they have had a wet season to see how the
area changes.
BirdLife Capricornia
Trip report: WA Part 1
Bob Black and Lorelle Campbell report on a
trip to Western Australia via Qld and SA
We left home on July 12th and drove out to
Noccundra, west of Thargomindah, to meet our
travelling companions on the 15th. Carole and
Phil who have shared many trips with us, and
our Byfield friends Bill and Fay.
Our next stops were the Dig Tree, where
conditions were very dry, then on to Coongie
Lakes in South Australia where we camped
three nights. Coongie had good bird numbers,
with a pair of Barking Owls roosting near camp,
and lots of White-winged Fairy Wrens. There
was a lot of water in the main lake and the
Cooper Channel, with quite a few waterbirds. A
highlight was several groups of Yellow Chats,
with recently fledged young. They were of the
Inland subspecies, with noticeable plumage
differences from the Capricorn Chats.
Orange Chat - Simpson Desert, Bob Black
After some searching we had good but brief
looks at the locally endemic Eyrean
Grasswrens. We also saw Pied Honeyeaters,
Cinnamon Quailthrush and White-browed
Babblers.
From Coongie we travelled via Innamincka to
Birdsville, which had a good variety of birds
around the campground lagoon, a channel of
the Diamantina. Black-tailed Native Hens,
Rufous Songlarks and Little Grassbirds were
common.
After topping up supplies, water and fuel we
set off on our first desert crossing, the southern
Simpson Desert (Rig Road). This is a more
scenic trip than the French Line which basically
runs straight east-west across over a thousand
north-south dunes. The rig road travels past
some dry salt lakes, and through long swales
between dune crossings, while still having
some pretty difficult loose dune crests.
The Southern Simpson was in good condition
after rain in June, and some patches were alive
with birds. Partcularly abundant were Budgies,
Black-faced and Masked Woodswallows,
Orange Chats, Banded Whitefaces, Zebra
Finches, Brown Falcons and White-winged
Fairy Wrens.
Cinnamon Quail-thrush female - Rig Rd, Bob Black
Towards the west of the Simpson Crossing is
Purnie Bore, a wetland formed when the
French Petroleum Company drilled into the
Artesian Basin in the 1960s. It has now been
capped, but a small flow is allowed to keep the
wetland active. We camped by this and had
lovely views of hundreds of Flock Bronzewings
coming in to drink, and some confiding
Australian Spotted Crakes.
September 2015
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with few bad corrugations, and improved in
W.A. We kept a constant eye out for Princess
Parrots, which are most often found around
Jupiter Well, but were not able to find any. In
general the birds were similar to the Simpson
Desert species, with less numbers. Much of
this region showed damage from too frequent
and intense fires. At Rudall River National Park
we camped at the lovely Desert Queen Baths,
a permanent rockhole in a gorge. Spinifex
Pigeons fed around the camp, and beautiful
Painted Finches collected charcoal from the
old campfires.
Black-tailed Native Hen - Purnie Bore, Bob Black
From Dalhousie Springs we drove into the
Northern Territory through Old Andado Station,
a very pleasant camp near red sand dunes. In
this area we had great looks at our first
Chiming Wedgebills. Then on to Alice Springs
where we spent a few days to get the Rodeo’s
airbags repaired. At Simpson Gap we had
close encounters with the very confiding Dusky
Grasswrens
Spinifex Pigeon - Desert Queen Baths, Bob Black
Dusky Grasswren - Simpson’s Gap, Bob Black
Painted Finch - Desert Queen Baths, Bob Black
Bill and Fay left us here to travel back home
via Mt Isa, while we stocked up for the long
desert leg across the Gary Junction Road.
We drove 350 km from Redbank Gorge to the
Western Australian border in a day, as
camping isn’t allowed in this section.
Fortunately the road was in good condition,
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September 2015
We also had close looks at a young Grey
Falcon here.
Next we headed through the amazing Marble
Bar to the coast at Port Hedland.
To be continued.
BirdLife Capricornia
Trip report: WA Part 2
The Port Hedland-Karratha-Dampier area is
the export hub for the massive Pilbara Iron Ore
mines, with dozens of huge ships queued
offshore and 24 hour rattling ore trains. A visit
to the Port Hedland mangroves found
Mangrove Robin, Mangrove Grey Fantail,
Yellow White-eye and White-breasted Whistler.
We drove back to the coast at Exmouth and
North-west Cape, where a search of low
chenopod heath found our first Rufous
Fieldwren.
Rufous Fieldwren-North-west Cape, Bob Black
White-breasted Whistler-Port Hedland, Bob Black
At Shark Bay we stayed at the Hamelin
Station, an excellent property recently bought
by Bush Heritage. This is the site of the ancient
stromatolites. There is great wetland with
waterbirds, Wood Sandpipers and Baillon’s
Crakes.
We then drove east to Karajini National Park in
the Hammersley Ranges, which has
spectacular red and black iron gorges. The bird
species were similar here, but a highlight was a
pair of the elusive Grey Honeyeaters at a nest.
They are tiny, and have to be seen well to
distinguish from Western Gerygone, but the
finer, slightly curved bill and cup nest
confirmed the identification.
Wood Sandpiper-Hamelin Station, Bob Black
Grey Honeyeater-Karijini National Park, Bob Black
The recent rains had stimulated a mass of
flowering, and Birds were calling and nesting in
great abundance and diversity. Some of the
most common were; Masked Woodswallow,
Crimson Chat, Rufous Songlark, Zebra Finch,
Clamorous Reed-Warbler, White-winged Fairy
Wren, Pied Honeyeater and Chiming
Wedgebill.
September 2015
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Aussie Backyard Bird
Count
Chiming Wedgebill-Hamelin Station, Bob Black.
On a drive to Monkey Mia we stopped to
search the heathland for Western Grasswrens.
At one site we found a mass of displaying
species, with Crested Bellbird, Chiming
Wedgebill, White winged and Variegated Fairy
Wrens, the locally endemic White-browed
Scrubwren, Rufous Fieldwren and Western
Grasswren all within 50 metres.
Celebrate National Bird Week 2015 by taking
part in the biggest citizen science project to hit
Aussie shores! From19-25 October, thousands
of people from across the country are heading
out into their backyards, local parks or favourite
open spaces to take part in the second annual
AUSSIE BACKYARD BIRD COUNT!
To get involved all you need is 20 minutes,
your ‘green patch’ of choice, and some keen
eyesight (or binoculars!). It doesn’t matter if
you’re a novice or an expert simply record the
birds you know and look up those you don’t on
the Aussie Bird Count app (updated version
available for download in early October) or our
website. You’ll instantly see live statistics and
information on how many people are taking
part near you and the number of birds and
species counted across your neighbourhood
and the whole of Australia!
Sign up on the web site at
http://aussiebirdcount.org.au/
White-winged Fairy Wren-Hamelin Station,
Bob Black
On the drive south to Kalbarri we entered the
endemic South-west W.A. flora zone, and the
wildflowers were in spectacular riot. We
stopped so many times to see masses of
amazing new species that a short drive took all
day. We were now entering the range of many
endemic bird species, our experiences with
them will be in the next report.
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September 2015
BirdLife Capricornia
Trip report - Isle of
Mull Birdwatching
Don and Sylvia Wright have been travelling the
world for the past six months visiting Malaysia,
China, Russia and the UK. Here they report on
a visit to the Isles of Mull and Iona
In the middle of June Sylvia and I trained up to
Scotland to visit the Isle of Mull and Iona. Iona
is one of the many islands of the Hebrides,
which simply means ‘The Islands of Bride (or
St Brigid)’and is famous for the Abbey which
was founded by St Columba and is now a
place of pilgrimage. The Iona Community is an
ecumenical Christian centre and Sylvia was
booked into a retreat for a week at the Abbey. I
booked myself into a B&B near the village of
Bunessen on Mull not far from Fionnphort
where the ferry takes one over to Iona.
My plan was to do much walking, relaxing and
of course some birdwatching. I had already
booked a trip out to the Treshnish Islands to
see the puffins and also a wildlife/birdwatching
trip on Mull with Sylvia at the end of her stay on
Iona.
Weatherwise the first two days were beautiful,
blue skies and sunshine even though it was a
bit nippy in the wind. The island had not had a
good start to summer and did not improve over
the next week. Plans for a lot of walking were
put on hold as the weather deteriorated into
wind and drizzle. However on the day trip out
to the Treshnish Isles the weather held and a
delightful 2 hours were spent watching and
photographing the hundreds of puffins nesting
on the edges of the cliffs as it was breeding
season. These comical little birds did not seem
concerned by us curious onlookers walking
amongst them. We also saw many gannets,
seagulls and cormorants and fulmars were also
seen nesting along the cliffs. On our return to
Fionnphort we stopped off at Fingal’s Cave to
observe the amazing rock formations and
many puffins were also nesting there.
Puffins at Trashnish Island, Don Wright
On our last day the Wildlife Tour company
picked me up at Bunessen and we then
collected Sylvia off the ferry from Iona. The
weather was still not wonderful but we
managed to drive to most of the guide’s
favourite birding sites over the next five hours
before the weather became inclement. We
listed about 50 species including those seen on
the Treshnish trip.
Redshank, Don Wright
We were hoping to sight the white tailed eagle
as it is rare having been reintroduced to Mull in
recent years, but to no avail. However we were
excited that we got to sight a golden eagle and
a redshank and many others up so close.
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BirdLife Capricornia
Trip report: Wild West
Wandering
having a well earned glass of wine a Wonga
Pigeon walked along the creek, had a drink of
water and flew off.
Allan Briggs and Paula Ryan went on a trip to
the far west badlands of NSW and Qld
Conondale camping
The rainforest at Conondale NP is lush and
extensive clinging to the lower slopes of the
steep hills with eucalyptus forest dominating
the upper slopes. Booloumba Creek cuts
through the park like a serpent, being clothed
in shade for most of the day with only brief
sunlight around midday. Getting into the park
requires the crossing of two creeks and it
would not take much rainfall to make them
impassable. Some of the camp sites are well
sited along the edge of the creek looking over
to tall strangler figs festooned with epiphytes.
We camped here and had the place all to
ourselves and fell asleep at night to the sound
of water gurgling along the creek.
The birds around the camp site were Eastern
Yellow Robin, Pale Yellow Robin, Brown
Thornbill, Russet-tailed Thrush, Lewins
Honeyeater, Wompoo Fruit Dove and of
course the ever present Brush Turkey and
Laughing Kookaburra. The latter two were
used to being fed by campers and it took some
chasing off to let the Brush Turkeys know we
would not be feeding them. However, the
Kookaburras were not so easily deterred and
one took a piece of cake out of my hand when I
was trying to have a quiet cup of tea.
Extensive walks are available and on the first
day we took the walk to the top of Mount Allan
where there is a fire tower. On the way we
were rewarded with Green Catbirds meowing
and then appearing in a tree above as well as
a group of Paradise Riflebirds foraging through
the trees. Bell Miners were also tinkling away
as we walked and Noisy Pitta’s announced
their presence with the ‘walk to work’ call.
On the second day we did the easier Artists
Cascades walk, easier because it was a
relatively flat walk along the creek. Here we
saw a male Paradise Riflebird and came
across a group of Logrunner’s shifting the leaf
litter looking for food. Back at our camp while
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September 2015
Pale-yellow Robin, Allan Briggs
Altogether, a very pleasant location with good
facilities, stunning rainforest and a good variety
of bird species. We managed 36 species out
of more than 200 recorded for the park.
Dubbo zoo time
The main purpose of our visit to Dubbo was as
a transit point to Lake Mungo NP and to visit
the Western Plains Zoo. Dubbo is a very busy
outback town at the convergence of three
highways, the Newell, the Mitchell and the
Golden. As well as having all of the animals
the zoo was pretty good for birds. Here we
saw Superb Fairy Wren, Yellow-throated
Miner, Grey-crowned Babbler, White-plumed
Honeyeater, Red-rumped Parrot, Australian
Ringneck and Eastern Rosella among others.
The highlight was an Australian White Ibis
colony in full swing. There were some two
hundred birds nesting on small islands in a
large lagoon with a mown grassy area on one
side that provided excellent viewing. Some
birds were sitting on eggs, others feeding
young chicks and some feeding juveniles so
there was the whole cycle of breeding to be
seen. On the 35 acre property we stayed at
there were Yellow-rumped Thornbill, Redcapped Robin, Silvereye and Spiny-cheeked
Honeyeater among others.
Altogether we logged 61 species.
BirdLife Capricornia
White Ibis colony, Allan Briggs
Then when the first European settlers arrived
the sheep they brought ate the vegetation from
the lunettes and the process of erosion began.
This was followed by a plague of rabbits that
burrowed into the lunettes and accelerated the
erosion. The sand being soft was the first to
go leaving tall spires of clay with deep fissures
of erosion down their sides. This erosion
uncovered aboriginal shell middens, fireplaces,
stone spear heads and bones. The most
famous bones are of Mungo lady and Mungo
man, the latter being some 45,000 years old
and one of the oldest human remains in the
world.
Mungo dreaming
There is a dream like quality about Mungo
National Park, the landscape is so different to
anything else and the history of the place is
just extraordinary. Aboriginal peoples have
been living there for 45,000 years but back
then the place was a paradise compared to the
desert landscape we see today. The climate
was much wetter and the lake was full to a
depth of several metres and teeming with fish
as well as an abundance of freshwater
mussels. Diprotodon and giant kangaroo
walked its shores being hunted by sabre tooth
tigers. The skies were alive with birds, many of
which are still present today but now they fly
over a dry lake bed and eroded hills called
lunettes. Back then high pressure systems
moved far to the north allowing cold winds from
Antarctica to sweep across southern parts
bringing rain and creating a wet lush climate.
Over time the high pressure systems have
move south pushing the cold winds down into
the southern ocean causing the continent to
warm and dry out. Through all of this the
aboriginal peoples adapted and thrived and
today their ancestors take guided tours into the
landscape and tell the story of those far off
times. The lunettes were created by
successive layers of sand and clay dust that
were blown up by prevailing winds. When the
lake was full sand was blown up off the
beaches and when the lake was empty the
wind would blow clay dust from the lake bed up
over the sand. Vegetation such as saltbush
grew over the lunettes as they slowly
accumulated up to a height of some 20 metres.
Walls of China lunettes, Allan Briggs
When you stand in the lunettes and listen to
the story told by the guide there is a definite
sense of time lapse because the evidence of
what has happened is right there before your
eyes. The erosion is there to see and there
are ancient fireplaces, bones of animals such
as bandicoot and Northern Hairy Nosed
Wombat which disappeared from the area
thousands of years ago. It is a spectacular
place of astounding visual beauty as well being
a place of significant geological and human
history. No wonder it is World Heritage.
The birds were different this far west and it was
a pleasure to see some real arid species such
as Major Mitchell’s Cockatoo, White-backed
Swallow, Blue Bonnet, Mulga Parrot and
White-winged fairy Wren.
September 2015 13
BirdLife Capricornia
Blue Bonnet, Allan Briggs
The weather was not kind to us and on the
second day it rained and a bitingly cold wind
kept us indoors for most of the day. However,
on one foray for some fresh air we saw a pair
of Great Cormorants flying over, quite a
surprise.
Our species tally for Mungo was 34.
Gundabooka Gazing
Gundabooka National Park is only 50
kilometres from Bourke and here we camped
on the banks of the Darling. From our tent we
could see the river and were able to get a good
variety of water birds as well as bush birds.
The park was notable for large flocks of Whitebrowed Woodswallows, they were in their
hundreds. We did a trip to the aboriginal rock
art site stopping on the way to check out
Cockatiel, Red-capped Robins, Ringneck
Parrots, Major Mitchell Cockatoo and Hooded
Robin. The artwork featured dancers doing a
peculiar ‘shake the leg’ dance.
Back at the camp site we had a walk along the
Darling in the fading light and saw a pair of
Crested Shrike-tit as well as a number of
Crimson Chat feeding on the bare red ground.
The camera was in overdrive. Gunabooka is a
spectacular location and well worth a visit with
the added attraction of being able to marvel at
the magnificent river red gums and ancient
Coolibah. It is a place where the romance and
majesty of the outback is everywhere.
We had a good total of 53 species for a short
stay of three nights.
14
September 2015
Shaky leg aboriginal art work, Allan Briggs
Bowra Birding
After many years of saying, ‘we must go to
Bowra’, we finally arrived on a beautiful sunny
day and pitched our tent alongside the lagoon
where yellow-billed Spoonbills, Black-winged
Stilt, Major Mitchell Cockatoo’s and others
were enjoying a wetland in an arid desert. It is
very well organised for birding with a bird list
and a map that shows where target species
such as Halls Babbler and Black Honeyeater
can be seen. After getting set up we sat
outside looking over the lagoon and thinking
what a great spot. A mob of Chestnut-crowned
Babbler came in for a drink squabbling and
carrying on, a Restless Flycatcher hovered
above the water catching insects and a
Hooded Robin sat on the dead branch of a tree
above our heads, White-naped Honeyeaters
buzzed around and Spotted Bowerbirds were
quarrelling in a tree behind us. Hardly any
need to go out into the bush really it was all
happening right beside our tent.
However, to get the more difficult species it
was necessary to set out on the dirt tracks
around the property. Of special note we saw
Hall’s Babbler, Black Honeyeater, Bourke’s
Parrot, Splendid Fairy Wren, Southern
Whiteface, Chestnut-rumped Thornbill and
Mulga Parrot. The evenings were especially
beautiful with the sun setting over the lagoon, a
pink glow in the sky, the full moon rising behind
us and the birds feeding in and around the
lagoon.
BirdLife Capricornia
Our personal tally for the visit was 74. This
was the highest total for any location on our
travels and was certainly a highlight.
Bunya pining
White-winged Fairy Wren, Allan Briggs
Each evening there was a bird call at which
most visitors attended and the species seen for
that day were recorded, which varied between
80 and 90.
For our final location we headed for Bunya
Mountain and a lovely cottage set right in the
rainforest. It was nice to finish off our trip in a
comfortable cottage with whipbirds, Yellowthroated Scrubwrens and Paradise Riflebirds
all around us. There are many beautiful walks
in the Bunya Mountains National Park and we
did several of them being rewarded with Rose
Robins, Golden Whistler, Top-knot Pigeon and
Satin Bowerbird. Previous visitors to the
cottage had obviously been feeding the
animals and birds as the Brush Turkey loitered,
as did the Pied Currawong and in the evening
a portly possum came to call. They all left
disappointed when we were there.
We recorded 33 species at Bunya Mountain.
Black Honeyeater, Allan Briggs
Rufous Fantail, Allan Briggs
The trip involved a lot of driving to get to these
far flung places but the reward in getting to see
the spectacular landscapes and the birds that
live in them was worth it. Our favourite place
was Gundabooka and being able to camp on
the banks of the Darling River in the shade of a
Coolibah with Crimson Chats feeding nearby
was very special.
Chestnut-crowned Babbler, Allan Briggs
For the whole trip we recorded 158 species
many of which were lifetime firsts.
September 2015 15
BirdLife Capricornia
Field trip: Kroombit
Tops
The panoramic view from the lookout (Kevin Vins)
A group of 13 members visitied the high
ancient caldera of Kroombit Tops for an
outstanding field trip.
There is now an excellent camp site at Griffith
Creek with a wide range of birds to be seen
while having a cup of tea in front of the tent.
Satin Bowerbird, Glossy Black Cockatoo,
Eastern Spinebill, Scarlet Honeyeater, Brown
Treecreeper, Spotted Pardalote and Buffrumped Thronbill were just some of the visitors.
A few hundred metres from the lookout is
where a large area of rainforest can be found
and a short 300 metre walk has been
established by Parks & Wildlife. It was here
that we found many of our target species such
as Regent Bowerbird, Green Catbird, Paradise
Riflebird, White-headed Pigeon aa well as
Bassian Thrush and Rufous Fantail.
A short distance away is the lookout that takes
in views over the Boyne Valley and looks down
on the many eroded creek gullies where
rainforest has established. There is a good
spot for morning tea beside the lookout were
some picnic tables are located.
Regent Bowerbird (Gary Knight)
We visited the rainforest on several occasions
and were rewarded with good views of many of
the species. It is always difficult to see birds in
a rainforest, getting a glimpse here and there,
but the Regent Bowerbird above just dropped
down onto the roadside near Gary Knight and
he happily took this stunning photo.
Some of the group at the Lookout picnic area
16
September 2015
BirdLife Capricornia
The 4WD loop is a bit of an adventure and only
suitable for high clearance 4WD vehicles but
well worth the effort. The Beautiful Betsy
bomber crash site is located at the bottom of
the track and it is a very moving experience to
walk through the remains of the Liberator
bomber that crashed there in 1945 and was not
located until 1994.
of one another. To continue around the track
there is a nasty jump up from the creek but
once that has been negotiated the track is
steep but quite good.
Kroombit Creek is another location that we
visited and here there was Azure Kingfisher,
Golden Whistler, Eastern Yellow Robin and
Yellow-faced Honeyeater.
.
Gary Knight, Paula Ryan and Kevin Vins at the
bomber crash site (Allan Briggs)
On the way down to the bomber crash site we
passed through a section of open eucalypt
forest where most of the trees were in flower
and a riot of lorikeets were feeding. Of special
note was the large number of Little Lorikeet’s.
Yellow-faced Honeyeater (Kevin Vins)
Back at the camp site we managed to check
out more species along the creek before the
light faded and we assembled for Sundowners.
Little Lorikeet (Allan Briggs)
Right at the bottom of the track is another
camp site called The Wall because it is located
at the foot of a sheer rock face. Evidence of
the flood caused by Cyclone Marcia could be
seen everywhere with large trees piled on top
.
Striated Thornbill (Steve Kerr)
September 2015 17
BirdLife Capricornia
The bird call at Sundowners revealed that we
had recorded a very good list of 75 species to
that point and since some of the group were
staying on for a few days it was expected that
this would increase. A short rain shower
forced us into Kevin Vins tent for a a while but
it did not dampen the buzz about the many
excellent species we had seen.
Sundowners around a warm camp fire
(Allan Briggs)
Subsequent reports brought the bird list up to
90 species and that was 41 more than our
previous visit in 2004. This increase was
probably influenced by improved access to
places like the rainforest and a larger group
visiting the various locations.
The visit proved to be an outstanding success
with all particpants reporting how much they
had enjoyed it. Reason enough to plan a
repeat visit next year.
Quadcopter purchase
After many months of deliberation we have
finally purchased a quadcopter to assist with
shorebird surveys. It is a Phantom 3 with a 2
km range and a flight time of around 20
minutes. It carries with an HD camera which
can take stills and video.
We did some trial flights at Kroombit Tops with
several members having the opportunity to do
some pilto training. Mick Barker is our Senior
Pilot and training instructor and has already
overcome some technical teething problems
with apps, iPads and mobile phones.
We have yet to trial it with shorebirds but will
be doing that in the near future. Hopefully it
will allow us to survey difficult to access
locations.
Mick Barker catching the quadcopter (Gary Knight)
Grey Goshawk (Steve Kerr)
18
September 2015
BirdLife Capricornia
Trip report: Welford
and Bowra
back) I still had some great birding and a very
enjoyable stay.
Richard Atkinson reports on his fourth trip to
Bowra and his first to Welford NP.
I decided to visit Bowra Conservation Reserve
recently , my 4th visit over the past 8 years
hoping once again to sight the elusive Grey
Falcon. I also decided to stop in at Welford
National Park on the way down and camped at
Little Boomerang Waterhole on the Barcoo
River for 4 days, execellent arid/ desert country
birding. It is quite remote, no facilities and few
visitors, just how i like it.
White-browed Treecreeper at Bowra
(Richard Atkinson)
The Grey Falcon was sighted while I was there
by Linda & Phil Cross and managed to get a
photo through their scope. Bowra is a great
birding spot worth checking out.
Spinifex Pigeon at Welford (Richard Atkinson)
Bowra is owned by Australian Wildlife
Conservancy, with volenteers from Birds QLD.
managing it on a monthly basis. It caters for
approximately 25 campers plus has shearers
quarters accomodation and is usually quite
busy through the cooler months. Unfortunately
at present it has a fair number of feral animals,
plus larger than normal numbers of kangaroos
leaving very little grass anywhere. Even so it is
still one of the best birding Locations in SW
Qld.
Grey Falcon (Linda & Phil Cross)
At the end of each day the Birdcall is held in
the Shearers quarters and during my stay the
average number of species were between 8086. I stayed for 10 days and though I did not
see the Grey Falcon myself, (reason to go
September 2015 19
BirdLife Capricornia
Conservation news
Carol Devney and Allan Briggs report on
conservation happenings.
The following issues were raised at the August
Conservation Committee meeting.
Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas.
Golo Maurer.
The IBA program is doing an audit of current
survey and conservation work in existing IBAs.
If you would like to contribute to this effort
which will help set the agenda for IBA
conservation please go to
http://goo.gl/forms/xwg8krsSST
SV gave an update, as Golo was unable to
attend. All were asked to fill in the survey, and
distribute to their IBA contacts as well.
Even if it is found to be difficult to fill in, people
are asked to do what they can, and Golo can
also talk them through it if having problems.
The data will be presented at the Australasian
Ornithological Conference in November, and
published.
Please contact Golo if you have any queries.
[email protected] ; 0467444114
Conservation Knowledge Portal & SOAB.
James O’Connor
With the recent launch of SOAB and imminent
release of the Conservation Knowledge Portal,
SV gave an update as James was unable to
attend.
SV reported on the successful launch of SOAB
last month, which was launched by
Environment Minister Greg Hunt and received
good media coverage. Birdlife also promoted
the launch via a sophisticated social media
campaign.
It will be an annual event to release SOAB,
including a call to action for more structured
monitoring.
20
September 2015
One of our greatest obstacles is input to
birdata. We are working on improving the way
people can provide data and we hope to have
the new app available by November.
We’d like to hear feedback from members on
how to appeal to the next generation through
use of the new technology.
Approximately 3% of the data received from
ebird is useable for comparing trends (ie for
SOAB). Ebird is much more of a recreational
tool for people who want to maintain their lists.
For help with immediate campaigns and
analysis, direct information into the Atlas is
most useful for BirdLife.
The plan is that ebird and Birdata will be more
directly compatible. We are building the
Birdata app so that people can create their own
list and upload their data to ebird.
Thunderclap publicity campaign. Margaret
Quixley
Since the successful launch of the State of
Australia’s Birds, BirdLife recently started a
Thunderclap campaign. Thunderclap is a
crowd speaking platform that rallies people
together on-line to spread messages by
broadcasting it on social media to a large
number of people at the same time - like an
online flash mob.
You can help spread the word about the
State of Australia’s Birds by joining the
Thunderclap. Simply visit our Thunderclap
page
https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/28970volunteer-for-aussie-birds?locale=en and click
on the “Support with Twitter” red button or
“Support with Facebook” red button — or
both.
350 individuals have directly signed on so far,
with a target of 500.
Please contact Margaret if you have any
questions, at [email protected];
Ph: 9347 0757
BirdLife Capricornia
Around the ridges
Online data entry
QWSG has now started to provide online data
entry and BirdLife Capricornia has been one of
the first branches to use this facility on a trial
basis to see how it works out. It will certainly
save a lot of work for those who used to
receive the survey forms and then have to
enter them in to the data base.
Wader surveys at Kinka Beach and Kinka
Wetlands
Juvenile White-tailed tropicbird (Kevin Vins)
. Wader surveys at Shelgrit Creek
We are now doing surveys at three locations,
north Kinka Beach, South Kinka Beach and
Kinka Wetlands.
Members assisting with the surveys have been
Steve Kerr, Victoria Kerr, Barry Ellis, Vicky
Morris, Martin Woodcock, David Mitchell,
Jenny Barry, Graham Durant, Rod Parry, Mick
Barker, Brian Macguire, Bruce Zimmer, Don
Wright, Kelvin Wykes, Fran McFadzen, Kris
Hewitt, Teresa Lynch, Debra Corbet, Nick
Corbet, Thomas Corbet, Andrew Lau, Paula
Ryan and Allan Briggs.
Many thanks to those who have contributed to
the shorebird counts throughout the year.
Kinka Wetlands is drying out rapidly and there
is probably only 25% of water remaining, If
there are no significant rains soon we may find
the wetlands have completely dried out.
One interesting bird found on the beach at
Kinka was an exhausted juvenile White-tailed
tropicbird that had presumably been blow off
course by strong winds. Hopefully it recovered
and flew back to the offshore islands where it
belongs.
Gerry Woodruff has been conducting the
surveys at Shelgrit Creek, Mackay.
He has been assisted by Marj Andrews, Del
Williams, Ian Hope, Greg Strohal, Dan and
Kate Bundred and Tom Curtis.
Wader surveys at Gladstone
Lindsay Boyd has been transferred to Emerald
and Margaret Worthington has taken over the
shorebird counts at QAL. Margaret would
welcome any Gladstone member who has an
interest in shorebirds and would like to assist
with the counts.
Where does the count data go?
With regular monthly surveys in Mackay,
Capricorn Coast and Gladstone we now have a
good spread of wader surveys along our
coastline. All of this data is submitted to
QWSG and eventually finds its way into the
BirdLife Australia Atlas.
Would you like to help?
The monthly surveys are a vitally important
component of our coastal shorebird monitoring
that are part of a nationwide effort to collect
data about shorebird species. If anyone would
like to help out with these surveys please
contact Allan Briggs at [email protected]
September 2015 21
BirdLife Capricornia
Outstanding
Photographs
Our photography section keeps getting better
as more members are refining their skills. It is
not just about the ‘big one’ but more about how
you use it!
Grey Shrike-thrush (Allan Briggs)
The Grey-shrike Thrush is a very plain looking
bird but it makes up for this with a wonderful
repertoire of song.
Juvenile Black-winged Stilt (Kevin Vins)
Strutting around a shallow pool at Kinka
Wetlands this juvenile Black-winged Stilt was
intent on finding food..
Whistling Kite nest with chick and dead Cattle Egret
(Allan Briggs)
The Cattle Egret corpse dangles like a trophy
from the nest while the chick patiently sits and
waits for the next meal at Lake Mary swamp.
Juvenile Mistletoebird (Kevin Vins)
This young male Mistletoebird has his feathers
all fluffed up on a cool morning at Kinka
Wetlands..
22
September 2015
BirdLife Capricornia
Great Egret (Allan Briggs)
After catching some juicy fish for breakfast the
Great Egret spends some time preening its
feathers at Rockhampton Botanical Gardens.
Red-backed Kingfisher (Debra Corbet)
A male Red-backed Fairy Wren in full breeding plumage surveys his territory at Thompson Point
(Gary Knight)
Whiskered Tern (Gary Knight)
This juvenile Whiskered Tern was cruising
above the water at Lake Mary swamp looking
for a meal.
Crested Pigeon (Allan Briggs)
A Crested Pigeon sitting on a barb wire fence
reminds us of the Leonard Cohen song;
.
Like a bird on a wire
Like a drunk in a mifnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free
September 2015 23
BirdLife Capricornia
Blue-faced Honeyeater (Allan Briggs)
Feeding on a yellow grevillea the blue face
makes a striking contrast..
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (Kevin Vins)
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper all in a row feeding in
the diminishing shallow water at Kinka
Wetlands.
Pacific Golden Plover (Gary Knight)
This Pacific Golden Plover was just back from
Siberia and feeding around Lake Mary. A
striking bird even in non-breeding plumage..
Cattle Egrets (Kevin Vins)
These Cattle Egrets have forsaken their cattle
hosts to fly over Kinka Wetlands and look for
some different cattle to be friends with.
24
September 2015
BirdLife Capricornia
Artistic interpretation
A new category to our photography section that
will feature photographs “that take you to
another place, makes you reflect on your own
experiences, definitely has a back story or
gives you an insight that you hadn’t thought of
before.”
Most of the time we get a fleeting glimpse of a bird
through our binoculars that does not give us the
time to really admire the detail. A close up
photograph allows the magnificent colours of the
Striated Pardalote to be admired at leisure.
(Kevin Vins).
Plumed Whistling Ducks (Helen Dunne)
The Magpie Goose seems to have lost its way
and ended up in a gaggle of ducks instead of
geese. Helen thinks that a suitable caption
would be, “Their mothers said they would come
back....don't call me a goose”.
Pheasant Coucal (Allan Briggs)
The beauty of the patterns and colours of the
Pheasant Coucal tail feathers can be seen on
a bird that had just been killed by a vehicle.
September 2015 25
BirdLife Capricornia
Australasian Darter (Allan Briggs)
Splashdown! The darter uses its webbed feet to cushion the landing at Yeppen Yeppen Lagoon
Squatter Pigeon (Gary Knight)
Blending into the background is essential for ground feeding birds
26
September 2015
BirdLife Capricornia
Golden-headed Cisticola (Gary Knight)
Preeniing is an important activity and this cisticola is intent on doing a good job
Black-necked Stork (Gary Knight)
There is a graceful effortlessness about this Black-necked Stork as it cruised past Gary Knight over the
water lilies at Lake Mary swamp
September 2015 27
BirdLife Capricornia
Australian White Ibis (Allan Briggs)
Often dismissed as a pest species the White Ibis is quite spectacular in breeding plumage and this one
was displaying it all to full advantage at Dubbo Western Plains Zoo
28
September 2015
BirdLife Capricornia
Calendar of Events for 2015
Set out below is a suggested calendar of field trips and other activities for 2015 that were agreed to at the end
of year activity at Fern’s Hideaway. The field trips are planned to provide a variety of activities that suit
members interests, locations that are interesting and have sufficient variety to suit local short distance day
trips and more adventurous long distance weekend trips. Your participation in the selection of field trips will
provide you with activities that will suit your interests.
Month
September
October
Date
19 - 20
7
26
Event
Field trip
National Thtreatened Species Day
Monthly shorebird survey
25
17
Field trip
Monthly shorebird survey
November
21
6-9
14
Urban birding
Biannual shorebird survey
Monthly shorebird survey
December
TBA
2-4
End of year activity
Australian Ornithological
Conference
Monthly shorebird survey
‘
12
Where
Kroombit Tops National Park
TBA
Cap Coast, Mackay and
Gladstone
Gladstone area
Cap Coast, Mackay and
Gladstone
Rockhampton/Yeppoon
Broadsound
Cap Coast, Mackay and
Gladstone
TBA
Adelaide
Cap Coast, Mackay and
Gladstone
September 2015 29
BirdLife Capricornia
WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS
Treasurer – Mick Barker 49395579
Email: [email protected]
We would like to welcome the following new
members and look forward to meeting them on
future field trips.
Deputy Convenor – Marian Davies 4927 2237
Email: [email protected]
Svetlana Mitin – Rockhampton
Raymond Hastings – Boyne Island
Richard Holroyd – Cawarral
Carol Petherick – Cawarral
Postal address
192, Palm Valley Road, Coowonga, Qld 4702.
Membership info
Groups committee:
Graham Durant
If you have any friends or relatives who are
interested in birds then please encourage them
to join or why not buy them a membership for
their birthday!
Subscriptions: $79 Single, $58 Single
Concession, $125 Family, $100 Family
Concession, $58 Library, $29 Student and $25
Stickybeaks. This includes membership of the
national organisation plus membership of our
local branch.
BirdLife Capricornia members also receive four
issues of the full-colour BirdLife Magazine and
regular issues of Brolga, the BirdLife
Capricornia newsletter.
Membership forms are available from the
Secretary or send subscriptions directly to:
BirdLife, Suite 2-05, 60 Leicester Street
Carlton VIC 3053.
You can now join directly through the BA web
site: www.birdlife.org.au.
Your Committee
Convenor – Graham Durant 49397889
Email: [email protected]
Secretary – Allan Briggs 49354645
Email: [email protected]
30
September 2015
Representatives on BA committees;
National Education Committee:
Allan Briggs (Chair)
Important Bird Area Committee:
Allan Briggs
Occupational Health and Safety Committee:
Fran McFadzen
National Conservation Committee:
Carol Devney
Queensland Conservation Committee
Carol Devney
Conservation issues consultants
John McCabe and Bob Black
BirdLife Photography Special Interest Group
Alicia Newport (Secretary)
Representative on the Local Marine
Advisory Committee (LMAC)
Vacant
Representative on the Capricorn Coast
Alliance
Fran McFadzen
Newsletter Editor
Allan Briggs
Indian Myna project Coordinator
Rod Elder